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Torfan
A small moon, infamous as the site of a major battle. This was simultaneously a great victory for the Systems Alliance as humanity made its mark as a military power and also a shameful debacle as military discipline broke down due to costly mistakes and anger at enemy atrocities. Torfan served as base for criminals, mostly batarian, who built strongholds deep underground. In retaliation for the Skyllian Blitz, a major criminal assault against human holdings in the Attican Traverse, the Systems Alliance raided Torfan in 2178. Preparations Pharos was selected by Alliance Command to lead one of a series of advance recon units sent in to ‘soften up’ Torfan before the main assault. Assigned to sabotage an orbital defence station, Pharos’ unit were ambushed by a squad of batarian vacuum commandos and almost wiped out. Pharos himself was hit by a smart-grenade and critically injured before his squad could fall back and be extracted. The Battle The superiority of the human fleet was wasted due to tactical blunders from as-yet inexperienced commanders. Ground forces were then dispatched, however, to lay siege to the various subterranean bases used by the pirates and slavers. Participating in the Torfan campaign were the soldiers of the O7 Program. Having been subjected to heavy psychological conditioning, which often led to xenophobia, particularly towards batarians, O7 commandos committed some of the most brutal actions of the conflict, which was their first (and only) major engagement. The 116th Frontier Division fought at Torfan. Its Battery G, a heavy artillery unit, was deployed to shell some of the batarians’ more fortified strongholds. In particular, their major objective was to assist the main force in breaking through the enemy position at Mount Kaer’xen. This was the main stronghold guarding the entrance to the Gokarn Valley, which the batarians were using as their main supply route. The only report that was ever released to the public about Torfan found that for a period of about 48 hours, military discipline among Alliance ground units completely broke down. The victimised slaves found on the moon and the heavy losses suffered by both ground and space personnel riled many human soldiers into righteous and dangerous anger. The truth was always murky, but it is an "open secret" of sorts that at least some batarian civilians, sick and wounded, and soldiers who lay down their arms and surrendered, were killed by vengeful human troops. It's also widely known that the Batarian Hegemony was supporting the criminals, and that Hegemony troops were present in some locations. Though the Alliance took heavy losses, the enemy was all but completely annihilated. Aftermath Many combatants were disillusioned after the battle. Many of the O7 soldiers, following the discontinuation of the project, would leave to join Cerberus, among them RememberTheBlitz. Many of the Seventh Fleet's 23rd Battlegroup also left the service, electing to strike out on their own and make their fortunes as a private military firm (see: Myrmidon Security Services). Several films have been made about the battle at Torfan, including the controversial Battle for the Verge (to quote its director, the film "spends a great deal of time examining the brutality of enemy forces during the Skyllian Blitz. However, the brutality of Torfan, and that brutality’s long term psychological impact on our own troops, are also important aspects of this story.”) ''There's also the unapologetic action thriller ''The Last One Out. To quote Pharos on this one: “It’s very over the top (believe me, I was there. The whole thing with the cruiser ramming the orbital platform is just nonsense) but damn if it doesn’t get your blood pounding.” Members of CDN present at Torfan * Bo Kross * Friegsid Khor'shok (on the other side to everyone else mentioned here) * Lyra Palmer * Pharos * RememberTheBlitz * Serge Rossi * Shane Ryder Category:Locations Category:Military Category:History